Events | 2009.08.26
Big Brother to be axed by Channel 4
• Broadcaster decides to axe declining reality show
• Overhaul of schedule will focus on new drama
Big Brother, the reality show that made a household name out of Jade Goody and prompted a minor international incident with India after the 2007 race row, will be axed next year following declining ratings, Channel 4 confirmed yesterday.
The broadcaster said it had taken the decision on creative grounds, with the decade-long franchise due to end after one more celebrity and one more summer version next year.
Ratings for the current run, which ends on 4 September, have been its lowest ever, averaging just 2 million viewers – down a third year on year and a far cry from its heyday in 2002 when it pulled in audiences of 8 million.
The show, which led the explosion in reality TV formats over the last 10 years, was described as the "most influential show of the modern era" by the head of Channel 4, Julian Bellamy, yesterday. "Quite simply, it revolutionised TV," he said. "It pioneered new technologies and fundamentally altered how viewers watched television."
However, despite its core loyal following, Big Brother increasingly attracted negative publicity for Channel 4 and was seen as a hindrance in its campaign for public money, although the broadcaster pointed out that revenues from the reality TV format helped pay for its public service output such as news and Dispatches.
At its peak in the middle of the decade, Big Brother generated £68m profit. However, Channel 4 is understood to have struggled to make as much money since striking a £180m three-year renewal deal with the show\'s producer Endemol in 2006 – a price that was pushed up after ITV tried to poach the show.
Kevin Lygo, Channel 4 director of television and content, said the broadcaster was still making a profit from Big Brother but added it was the right time to walk away. "Big Brother is still profitable for Channel 4 despite its reduced popularity and there could have been the option to renew it on more favourable terms," he said. "That\'s what a purely commercial broadcaster would have done, but Channel 4 has a public remit to champion new forms of creativity."
Channel 4 said the axing of Big Brother would prompt the "most fundamental creative overhaul" in its 27-year history, with the £50m and 200 hours of peaktime currently devoted to it each year on the main network and digital service E4 being diverted to other programming. That will include a £20m boost for drama, including the TV debut of the director Shane Meadows, who will create a new four-part series based on the characters from his Bafta-winning movie, This is England.
More single dramas, a long-running HBO-style comedy drama, and new drama and entertainment commissions for E4, which previously relied heavily on Big Brother content, are also planned.
Bellamy said Channel 4 was not after a "like for-like" replacement but was hoping to commission some "entertainment-led stunts and events to maintain a sense of fun about its summer schedule".
Big Brother became an annual summer obsession, turning the public into stars after "Nasty" Nick Bateman was kicked out in the first series in 2000 for attempting to rig eviction nominations.
Goody was the most successful housemate, becoming a millionaire, despite finishing fourth in 2002. Her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother in 2007, which saw her accused of racially bullying Shilpa Shetty, led to the show\'s biggest controversy, with more than 42,000 complaints, effigies being burned on the streets of India and Gordon Brown forced to intervene during a trip to the subcontinent..
As well as the rows, the show was also responsible for including people who had usually been less visible in the media, such as transsexual Nadia Almada, who won in 2005, and Pete Bennett, who has Tourette syndrome, who won a year later.
Craig Phillips, the first Big Brother winner, said it was right it was ending. "People are a little exhausted with it ... I do think it has sort of had its day."
Despite its departure from Channel 4, it is unlikely viewers will have seen the last of Big Brother, although three of its most likely new homes – Channel Five, ITV2 and Sky1 – have already ruled themselves out of bidding to provide a new home.
A summer obsession for 10 years
Big Brother 1, 2000
"Nasty" Nick Bateman was kicked out after fellow housemates rumbled his attempts to influence their eviction nominations. Meanwhile, the first Big Brother kiss took place between Mel Hill and Andy Davidson.
BB2, 2001
Schoolteacher Penny was criticised after letting her towel drop in front of the cameras, while romance blossomed between dippy hairdresser Helen Adams and laddish Paul Clarke.
BB3, 2002
Jade Goody\'s first appearance on the show saw her spout "Jadeisms" such as "where is East Angular?" However, she left the house in fourth place after tabloid headlines that she was a "pig".
BB4, 2003
Won by evangelical Christian Cameron Stout in what is widely regarded as one of the dullest series.
BB5, 2004
"Fight night" broke out when two housemates were returned to the house after secretly watching what other contestants had been saying about them. Security had to pull rival factions apart. Transsexual Nadia Almada went on to win the show.
BB6, 2005
Housemate Kinga Karolczak allegedly performed a lewd act with a wine bottle while eventual winner Anthony Hutton shared an "intimate moment" with Makosi Musambasi in the pool.
BB7, 2006
Won by Pete Bennett who has Tourette syndrome.
BB8, 2007
The show had its first black winner in Brian Belo, while housemate Emily Parr was kicked out after using the N-word.
BB9, 2008
The show\'s first blind housemate, Mikey Hughes, took part.
BB10, 2009
Bullying claims after housemate Marcus Akin made a verbal threat to Sree Dasari and mimicked his Indian accent. Dasari later self-harmed after leaving the show and was taken to hospital but has now recovered.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/26/big-brother-axed-ratings
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